Vent May 2006

VENT May 2006
By Chris Carney
(Writing as John Coctosnossin)

I am a historian by education and a food service engineer by trade. Both roles have taught me much about human nature. I’ve found much to praise, much to decry and to no surprise, to anybody who knows me, much to be annoyed by.

Crouched at the top of this list, ably playing the role of scavenging vulture of the human spirit, are those incapable of original thought. I’m talking about the yes man, the fashion slave, the religious fanatic, the corporate radio apologist, the political party zealot and any other of our fellow upright apes that let others tell them what to think without question, thought or debate.

Debate is essential to democracy. This is why the founding fathers wrote our constitution the way they did. They understood that in a truly free society the ability to think and speak ones mind is essential.

So when I hear demagogues and professional yellers like Chris Matthews and Bill O’Reilly, spouting their canned, packaged and artificially sweetened versions of patriotism I become enraged. To them, it seems, patriotism is blindly following those in power, while waving the flag without knowledge of what it means. Sadly patriotism is not that easy. If it were we’d still be living in the imaginary greatness of the mythic 50’s. Sadly true patriotism is hard and it requires knowledge, commitment and above all, original thought.

We live in the greatest country in the world. Conservatives know this. Liberals know this. Republicans, Democrats and Independents of all stripes know this. So I call for a truce. Let Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coultier stop endorsing the genocide of liberals. Let Al Franken and Michael Moore stop calling conservatives stupid liars.

And to all of us little people out there, the historians, the food service engineers and all the rest, start thinking for yourself. Turn of Fox News and read the independent press. Turn off the national radio jabber kings and listen to your local talk shows. Put down the New York Times and read the foreign press. Find other sources of information, read and listen and watch all you can and then make up your own mind.

Trust me if we do this you’ll learn a lot, and it will be much harder for those in charge who want to keep us all ignorant, bored and afraid, to steal our country from us all.

Published in I.O. Magazine May 2006